November 8-10 2019
Mystery Vacation via Pack up + Go!
Luckily I have GREAT friends that will amuse my silly bucket list dreams and agreed to do this one with me, thank you Emily & Holly!
I’m a planner and I like structure. Traveling for me involves research and figuring out the all the details months before I board that plane. So when I came across an article on Pack Up + Go, I was intrigued. Concept was simple enough, they are a surprise travel agency, meaning you pick the type of trip (air, rail or road travel) and your budget (they have minimums & this amount includes the 15% service fee), give them $$ and let them plan & book your entire trip for you, all while keeping your destination a secret. So being the PLANNER that I am, I convinced Emily and Holly to book our November trip in June.
June & how we booked the trip
Step 1: Complete the pre-trip survey (questions about our budget, when we wanted to travel, travel preferences, our interests, and some contact information). See the sample trip survey here.
The important questions on there included
- Where have you already been? We don’t want to send you somewhere you’ve recently visited!
- Any trips you’ve got coming up? We won’t send you there!
- Where have you lived/studied/visited frequently?
- What are your some of your hobbies/interests? (options included Fine Dining, Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurants, Food Markets, Craft Beer/Breweries, Vineyards/Wine Bars, Cocktail Bars, Dancing/Clubs, Live Music, Cafes/Bakeries, Theater, Comedy Clubs, Movies, Art Museums/Galleries, Historical Sites/Museums, Misc. Local , Museums, Parks/Nature, Fitness/Exercise, Outdoor Sports, Shopping, Flea Markets/Thrift Stores, Book Stores or Spas)
- Dietary Restrictions? This one was BIG for us, Em is vegan and we needed to make sure we could find places she could actually eat food. All the other trips we’ve been on with Em. she does extra research to find places ahead of time and she wasn’t going to have that time here.
- What airports were closest to each individual traveler? They’ve got a budget FAQ sheet that recommends the airports that they usually get more “bang for you bucket” booking through.
- What is your budget per person? (min $650-Max $5,000)
Submitted and paid, so now we wait…
September – checking in & any changes you want to make?
They sent us a quick check in email to make sure that any notes we’d sent separately were captured and it’d been 3 months.. did anything in our lives change?
November 1. 2019- 1 week until departure
8 AM Monday morning here it was! The “weather forecast, packing list and when/what airport we’d be leaving from” email. We still do not know where we are going! The group chat we have lit up again with all of our guessing.
November 3, 2019- Envelope Arrived in the mail – 5 days until departure
The envelope contains everything you need for your trip, but it is up to you when to open it. Holly got her envelope and opened in on the 2nd. Em got hers around the same time as me and she waited until the night before we left to open hers. I made Tim open my envelope but then promise not to tell me and did the same thing with some co-workers. I wanted to see their reactions, but I never peaked!
11/8/19 at 5:30 am and about 5 hours until my departure, I finally opened the envelope!
November 8-10 2019
Salt Lake City Utah
Hotel: Kimpton Hotel Monaco (hosted happy hour in the lobby nightly!)
Airline: Delta
Extras included in our Trip: 1 hour massages with gratuity at the Kura Door Spa, 3 tickets to a comedy show at WiseGuys Comedy Club and a $150 gift card to Zest Kitchen and Bar.
Online version of an itinerary they made for us: Click here
Budget per Person: $850
| Included Items | Total Cost |
| 2 nights @ Kimpton Hotel | $~400 |
| RT flight #1 CA-SLC | $~300 |
| RT flight #2 PDX-SLC | $~300 |
| RT flight #3 IAD-SLC | $~475 |
| Comedy Club Tickets | $~75 |
| Massages with Gratuity | $~375 |
| Gift Card | $150 |
| Grand Total | $~2,075 |
| We Paid (includes a 15% service fee) | $2,550 |
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